by Evi Asher
Can they run fast enough to escape the heat?
With the Enforcers close on her heels and strange new symptoms, Scarlet is doing everything she can to keep up and to deny what she is starting to feel for Archer. But every time she uses her flames she burns worse, and her inevitable death by fire is imminent. Can Archer save her before that happens?
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Burning to Ashes
Copyright © 2013 Evi Asher
ISBN: 978-1-77111-751-7
Cover art by Carmen Waters
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Burning to Ashes
Eternals Book Two
By
Evi Asher
For Gavin and Mommy, who can now retrieve their collective boots from the vicinity of my behind.
Chapter One
Archer was talking in his sleep, but not using a language she could understand. He seemed to be arguing with someone. He barked a command and then curled into a ball as if a wave of pain had wracked his big body.
Scarlet had the undeniable need to sooth his pain, so she leaned over him, her hand stroking the long dark hair off his forehead.
“I’m here, Archer. Try and breathe through the pain.” She murmured consoling nonsense, leaning forward to bring her mouth closer to his ear, letting her voice sooth him.
His hand shot up, grabbing her wrist, and unbalancing her. He yanked, and as Scarlet tumbled forward, something sharp dug into her wrist. Archer flung her onto her back, and he was on top of her in one fluid motion.
Scarlet stifled a scream. It wasn’t Archer on her, at least not the Archer she knew. She noticed his lower and upper fangs pronounced, protruding from his mouth. His eyes were a glowing yellow—no, amber—no, yellow. They were flickering between the two colors. He had become his wolf-man.
Archer had her pinned down, her shoulders pressed to the mattress by his clawed hands on her upper arms. He loomed over her with no recognition in his changeable eyes. His ears twitched, and before she could say anything, he reared back as if he’d been hit by something, his body flinging off her, but he was back on her in a moment. Striking forward, he sank his teeth into her shoulder at her collar bone.
Scarlet screamed as pain lanced through her like white-hot lighting. She didn’t think—she reacted. Flame burst from her skin in an explosion of force and heat.
Archer was thrown from her again. He struck the TV, knocking it from its stand only to shatter on the floor. He landed in the debris and didn’t move.
“Crap,” Scarlet grunted as she sat while pain spiked through her again. She was praying her knee-jerk reaction hadn’t killed Archer.
She stumbled from the bed, her hand going to her torn-up collar bone and went to kneel on the floor next to him. He was breathing—thank God, and there was no sign of burns on his skin.
Strange.
He should look like a charcoaled turkey. She knew her skin was hot, as if she had a mild sunburn, and the bedding was scorched even though her flame had been projected outward at Archer.
Scarlet ignored the pain in her shoulder. She would see to it in a bit. First, she needed to get Archer back on the bed, and she had no damn idea how she was going to do it.
* * * *
Archer was breathing hard, his lungs sucking in oxygen in the weird Dali-esq dreamscape.
This had been all kinds of weird, but one good thing had come of it. He stood alone, his beast had become part of him again when he brought their last foe to the ground—the ground soaked with thick black blood and slippery viscera. Thank the gods that was done.
He wanted to close his eyes and rest. He wanted to fall to the dirty ground and sleep for a month. He wanted to crawl into a soft bed, and hold Scarlet.
Where the hell had that thought come from?
Archer shook his head. He couldn’t let himself get involved with her.
Too late.
He remembered the kiss—that searing kiss before he’d been dumped in Dali-hell.
Gods, he’d never tasted anything so sweet. Her mouth was succulent, her warmth pushing him to a level of lust he’d never experienced before. Their tongues had tangled, meeting in a twirl of heat, their lips melding as if sculpted by angels for that purpose.
Archer felt that she would have let him take her there, on the bed, in the heat of what they were feeling.
He’d breathed in the sweet scent of her arousal, and his beast had howled in hunger. Then, the darkness had come, and he’d learned what had happened when his inner wolf had been torn from him to enter Scarlet and chase Geo from her dreams.
Archer knew two things with certainty. One, Geo would not be able to weave into Scarlet’s dreams or head again, and two, the intervention had damn near ripped his werewolf from him forever, something that would have killed both of them.
That was why he had fallen into unconsciousness. That was why Archer and his lycan side had to fight the soul wraiths—the demons who had tried to kill them both, and take their souls.
They were lucky to have survived.
The dreamscape flickered, and Archer looked around with worry.
More Soul Wraiths?
“We begin to wake, something is happening in the world,” the growling voice murmured from the depths of his mind.
* * * *
Darkness had fallen by the time Scarlet was able to check the bite wound on her shoulder. She stood in front of the bathroom mirror and pulled her shirt over her head, wincing at the twinge of pain the movement caused.
The bite was deep, but not as bad as she had thought it would be, and it appeared to be healing already. Not for the first time, Scarlet was grateful for her new Eternal ability to heal faster. Had she been human, the wound would have been far worse than it was.
Wait a minute! She paused while swiping a disinfectant-soaked swab over the bite. Does this mean I will become a werewolf? The thought was troubling for a moment, then she laughed. Archer had told her that Hollywood always got it wrong. Besides, she was already an Eternal. That had to mean she couldn’t become a lycanthrope, too?
The question was moot. She wasn’t planning on asking Archer because she wasn’t going to tell him about the bite. There was no need to make him feel guilty for something he’d done in a delirium.
She still didn’t know what had happened between them, and she was puzzled why he wasn’t burnt by her flame. She held up her hands to look at them. Across the skin of her hands and forearms were fine little blisters. They weren’t anything horrible, but it was enough to make her worry. Was her fire going to burn her up?
Scarlet had first noticed the blisters when she had to wrestle Archer up onto the bed. He was no lightweight, and Scarlet had felt more pain from her blistered hands and arms than from his bite,
but she had gotten him up. She’d settled him on the bed and tucked the blanket around him.
Scarlet cleaned up the shattered TV as best she could and then she had gone to the bathroom to check the damage to her shoulder.
She was clearing away the first aid supplies she’d taken out of one of Archer’s bottomless duffel bags when she looked up into the mirror and saw the flame-haired woman again. She met the woman’s eyes in the mirror and she smiled at Scarlet—not much of a smile, a small lifting of the corners of her mouth.
Scarlet couldn’t resist the urge to turn and look behind her, but as before, there was no one there and when she turned back to the mirror, the woman was gone again.
She shook her head. Her life was one big trip into weird central. That, and a space trip of emotions that she couldn’t or didn’t know how to handle. The thought of emotions brought the kiss back to her mind.
The kiss—that kiss—she tried to distract herself from the memory because every time she relived it, it made her toes curl and heat unfurl in her stomach and lower.
That male could kiss, and Scarlet was honest enough to admit she wanted more of Archer’s magical kisses, but not just his kisses.
A text coming through on Archer’s cell phone interrupted her musings. She picked it up off the counter and found the text.
Be there in 5. What # is room?Z.
She texted back the number thirteen and went back to the room, looking around for any more signs of Archer’s attack on her. She didn’t want Zane to see, or question her.
Scarlet wasn’t going to risk Archer’s guilt making him draw away from her. No way. She wanted him closer.
She felt a low rumble flow through her body, and tensed. What was that? It felt like an agreement. Like a growl of agreement?
She shook her head and decided to ignore it. She wasn’t going to go looking for more drama. Her body was stressed and she was imagining things, now.
She checked the wound on Archer’s chest. It was still there. It had healed more, but nowhere near enough yet, and she was still worried about him.
There was a knock at the door causing Scarlet’s head to snap in that direction. She walked with quiet steps over the worn rug that covered the floor of the motel room.
Standing by the door, she waited.
“Scarlet? It’s Zane…let me in, please.”
She pulled the door open a crack and, confirming that the blond vampire was standing outside, she stepped back, opening the door further to let him in. Scarlet nearly slammed the door in the face of the woman standing behind Zane. “Who are you?” she demanded.
Zane tilted his head as he strode over to where Archer lay on the bed. “Scarlet, this is Selene. She’s going to help us with Archer.”
Scarlet looked up at the tall woman that had entered the room after Zane. She must have been at least six feet tall. Her thick long hair was pure white, like fresh snow, or moonbeams. She was beautiful in a way that made Scarlet think about supermodels.
“Hi,” Scarlet said, feeling intimidated by the other woman’s beauty.
Selene nodded, but her eyes were on Archer. She gave him a hungry look that had Scarlet bristling and feeling the need to mark territory.
Selene strode past Scarlet to the bed, carrying a green cooler in her hand, one of those small plastic six-pack coolers used for beer or soda.
“What happened to him?” Selene demanded as she lifted the makeshift compress.
Scarlet had been afraid to bandage Archer up, scared she’d start the bleeding again.
“I don’t know,” Scarlet told the beautiful woman.
“Don’t you have a brain?” Selene asked her with pure venom lacing her tone. “How can he be this hurt, and you have no idea how it happened when you’ve been with him all the time?”
“Scarlet is new to our world.” Zane defended, but he was pinned with a withering stare and didn’t go any further.
“If he dies, I will eat your heart,” she spat.
Scarlet bristled and felt her hands start to heat. “Who the hell are you to threaten me like that?”
Selene tilted her chin up and spoke in a calm voice. “I’m Archer’s She.”
Zane gasped, and Scarlet frowned. “What does that mean?”
“It means that Selene is Archer’s one true mate. The closest human term would be wife, but it’s much more than that,” Zane explained his voice laced with disbelief.
“What?” She stopped the word from coming out in a shriek at the last instant, so it came out in a breathless rush.
How dare Archer get all hot and steamy with her if he had a wife? The kiss was a farce. He was a cheating bastard, and if he wasn’t already unconscious, she would have wrung his neck.
“I’m his—” Selene started.
“I heard you the first time.” Scarlet was beyond pissed, and she didn’t care how rude she was being. The burn in her hands was getting worse. She knew she had to calm down or she was going to start flaming again. “I don’t want to hear anymore.” She waved a hand in Archer’s direction. “Do whatever you came here to do.”
Scarlet walked over to the armchair next to the spot the destroyed TV had been and sat down, her spine stiff, her mind in turmoil. To think, she’d been developing…something. No, not feelings. She wasn’t going to admit to that. Lust—yes, that was it. She lusted after him, that was all, and hey, he wasn’t the last good-looking guy in the world. Scarlet’s eyes moved over Zane. He was hot.
She had to suppress the urge to snort. Zane was hot, yes, but he did nothing for her, at least not the way Archer did.
This is stupid. Watch that b—woman to see what she is doing.
Selene unzipped the cooler bag, and reached into it for an opaque glass jar.
She opened it and the hairs on Scarlet’s arms rose. She felt power coalesce around her. The room was soaked with it. Whatever was in that jar was potent to an extreme.
Selene dipped two fingers into the jar and scooped out a piece of… Well, it was meat—raw and red, a bloody pulp that made Scarlet fight the urge to gag.
“What is that?”
“It is part of the heart of the first Lycan.” Selene moved the gelatinous mass towards Archer’s lips, put the jar back in the cooler without the lid and opened his jaw. She then put the scoop of heart into his mouth and closed his jaw.
“Now what?” Scarlet felt like her body was buzzing from the power that drenched her nerve endings.
Selene dipped her fingers into her own mouth sucking the blood off them with closed eyes and a blissful expression. She closed the jar and zipped up the cooler bag again, then placed it with care on the side table of the bed.
“Now we wait.”
Scarlet inched forward to the furthest edge of her chair, her body taut like a spring under pressure, waiting.
Archer’s back bowed off the bed and he gasped. It looked like someone had hit him with cardio paddles.
A slow smile spread across Selene’s lips as he collapsed back down to the bed.
Scarlet shot out of her chair, and Zane took a few steps closer to Archer.
Selene took the wadding off Archer’s chest and they all watched in amazement as the wound knitted closed.
“Fuck me. That’s CGI at its best,” Zane muttered.
“Nifty, huh?” Selene gave him a dazzling smile. “He’ll be fine now, but I still want to know what caused this.” She glared at Scarlet, and Scarlet felt uncomfortable under the intensity of the stare.
“I didn’t hurt him,” she said through clenched teeth. “I wouldn’t hurt Archer.”
“That remains to be seen. If you did hurt him—”
Her threat was left unspoken because Archer’s eyes snapped open.
“She didn’t do this.” His voice sounded rough, and he cleared his throat.
Selene snapped her head around, then threw herself over Archer’s chest. “Archer, baby, you are okay.”
Scarlet smelled something burning and dropped her eyes to her hands. She’d cle
nched the sleeves of her shirt in her palms, and tendrils of smoke were drifting up from the fabric. Scarlet unclenched her palms and rubbed them across the seat of her jeans to quench the tiny flames dancing on her skin.
Archer seemed taken aback by the display, not knowing where to put his hands. He settled for patting Selene on the back, but the movement was awkward. He reached for her shoulders and pushed her back so he could sit up, his eyes taking in everyone in the room in one sweep.
“Selene, what are you doing here?” His tone was cool as his eyes found and pinned Zane.
“The vampire called me. He said you needed my help.”
“And how did he know to call you?” Archer asked, but his eyes were still scalding Zane, making it clear his question was aimed at the vampire.
Zane swallowed. “Don’t be pissed, Archer.”
“How did you know about Selene?”
“Well, I didn’t know she was your She.” Zane was trying to save his hide, and it worked.
“What?” Archer rose from the bed in fluid motion and glared at Selene, then back at Zane.
“Who told you that?”
“Selene did,” Scarlet said in a dark angry voice. “And now that you seem to be alive, I’m going for a walk.”
“No you aren’t,” Archer shot back.
“Try and stop me, and your wife will have to feed you more of that goop.” Scarlet marched to the door and yanked it open.
“Go with her, Zane,” Archer instructed. “I have something to clear up with Selene.”
Zane darted after Scarlet, nearly tripping on her heals as she stepped through the door.
Chapter Two
Archer waited for the door to close before he turned back to Selene. He stared at her for a moment, taking in her familiar form. It had been many years since he’d seen her, and she hadn’t changed at all. She was still breathtaking in her beauty.
